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3 September 2010

Sir Malcolm Campbell's fascination with automotive speed began while he was in Germany learning the family trade, diamond dealing. On three successive occasions from 1906 he won the London to Lake End trials motorcycle races before graduating to racing cars at Brooklands in 1910. After the end of the First World War, he set his sights on the land speed record.

In 1924 he drove a 350HP V12 Sunbeam at over 146 mph at Pendine Sands, on the south coat of Wales, taking the land speed record for the first time. He went on to take the record another eight times, mainly due to his rivalry with fellow Briton, Henry Segrave. The last time he took the record was on 3rd September, 1935 at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

The car Campbell used for the attempt was called Bluebird, like his other racing and record-breaking cars. Designed by Reid Railton, the power plant in this version was a 2,300hp 36.7 litre supercharged Rolls-Royce V12, enough to propel machine and driver to an average speed of over three-hundred miles per hour on the two runs in both directions over a measured mile. Initially, the American Automobile Association calculated an average speed of 299.875 mph, but they later revised this to 301.397 mph.

Following his return to Britain, Campbell received a knighthood and set his sights on the water speed record, which he set four times. Campbell died after a long illness in 1948. His son, Donald, followed in his father's footsteps making attempts at the land and water speed records, breaking both in 1964, before his tragic death attempting to retake the water speed record in 1967.